


Take His Hand, You'll Be Surprised

by daisysusan



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, M/M, Platonic Kissing, Skinny Dipping, Truth or Dare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-11-28
Updated: 2012-11-28
Packaged: 2017-11-19 17:57:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/576064
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisysusan/pseuds/daisysusan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The first time they played truth or dare, things didn't go exactly as Liam had anticipated, but that probably wasn't such a bad thing. Once he got past the bit where he jumped in a pool naked with four boys he barely knew.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Take His Hand, You'll Be Surprised

**Author's Note:**

> For the cottoncandy_bingo prompt _day off_.

“I dare you,” Louis said, “to go in the pool starkers. Right now.”

Harry shrugged. “Okay.” 

Niall giggled delightedly, and Zayn looked like he was somewhere between amusement and disapproval. Before Liam could stop himself, though, he heard himself say, “Don’t! What if someone sees and we all get booted from the X Factor for being naked?”

“No one will see,” Harry said. Liam thought he might be being patronized, but it was hard to tell when Harry was laughing at the same time he was patting Liam’s knee. “There’s not much around here.”

Louis made an impatient gesture, clearing his throat and looking at Harry’s clothes significantly. 

“It’s nearly midnight,” Liam protested weakly. 

“So?” the others said, nearly in unison. 

“No one cares what time we get up tomorrow, mate,” Niall added. 

It was pointless to be arguing, as Harry was undoing his trousers and tugging them off and—Liam should probably have been less surprised that he wasn’t wearing pants but, well, that was Harry’s dick. He was going to see it eventually, he told himself. They were in a house together for the week and probably sharing a room at judges’ houses. And everything. 

Mostly Liam just tried to stare, and tried even harder to keep from comparing Harry’s dick to his own. 

“Go on then,” Louis said, entirely too gleeful. They sat in slightly uncomfortable silence, listening to the door open and the muffled splash of Harry jumping in the pool, until he returned, dripping on the carpet and shivering just a bit. He threw himself into Louis’s lap, shaking his hair like a dog, and Louis laughed and grimaced. 

Liam was mostly impressed at how laid-back Louis was about the fact that Harry was sitting on his lap. _Naked_. 

After a few seconds of letting Harry drip all over Louis, who didn’t complain at all, Zayn got up and grabbed a blanket, dropping it on Harry’s sodden head. It was really difficult to dislike them all—not that Liam wanted to dislike them, they were just so _different_ and it was confusing—but it was impossible to dislike them when they were so lovely to each other. And to him too, they were sometimes lovely to him as well. 

Louis wrapped the blanket around him and Harry both, his arms tight around Harry’s waist and Harry’s head tucked back into his neck. Liam told himself not to be envious. 

“S my turn, yeah?” Harry asked, the words muffled by Louis’s skin. 

“Right,” Niall said, handing Harry the bottle they were using. Harry promptly spun it and, after a dizzying few seconds of watching it spin, it stopped.

Pointing at Liam. 

Liam’s stomach dropped. “Er,” he said. Neither option was appealing. Truth would be mortifying—Harry would ask about sex, probably, whether Liam was a virgin or what his first time had been like or—well, it would just be bad. But dare wouldn’t be any better, being told to strip in front of people who were practically strangers. 

“Dare,” Liam said. To be a sport. Or something.

Harry grinned. “I dare you to jump in the pool naked.”

Well. He ought to have seen that one coming but. Liam feels a bit like someone punched him; all the air’s been forced out of his lungs and he’s not sure how to suck more in. He must have look especially stricken, because Louis jumped in, offering to get in as well. Niall and Zayn immediately do the same, and before Liam has processed what’s happened, Louis was pushing Harry off his lap and going for the button of his now-soaked jeans. 

To his credit, Liam didn’t actually hide his eyes. If everyone else was comfortable taking all their clothes off in front of him, he could at least pretend it didn’t make him want to hole up in a corner and cry from discomfort. Louis just slapped Zayn’s now-naked arse, and Zayn smirked back at him. 

And then Harry shucked off his blanket and ran outside; the splash as he jumped back into the pool was audible even over the rushing in Liam’s ears and the thousand different thoughts screaming in his head at once. Louis and Niall and Zayn ran out after him, laughing and making half-hearted grabs for each others’ arses. 

Liam was the last to get outside, and he was still dressed when he stepped around to the pool. The pool that everyone else was already in, splashing at each other and laughing too loudly for the middle of the night. Niall lunged at Zayn as Liam watched, splashing him in the face and ducking out of range as soon as Zayn blinked his eyes clear. Harry clambered against Zayn’s back until Zayn grabbed him under the legs for some sort of sodden and half-hearted piggyback ride. 

“Lee-yum,” Louis whined, the tone already entirely too familiar despite Liam having only known him a few weeks. “Come on, it’s fun.”

Liam bit his lip. “I,” he started. The truth was that he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do. He wanted the boys to like him, and he didn’t want to be left out of group bonding or—whatever this was. But naked in a pool with four other lads at midnight. His mates at home would never believe he was actually considering it. 

But what harm would it do, really? Sure, the lads would all see his penis and his arse but, well. Maybe it was the darkness and the late hour and the ridiculousness of the whole situation, but that suddenly didn’t seem like such a big deal. After all, they’d all stripped down without so much as a second thought. 

Liam touched the top button of his shirt. Maybe … maybe he could just do it. It was probably freeing or something. A new experience. All of this was a new experience, though—well the show and the anxiety weren’t, but the part where he was in a band now, with four boys who had no issues getting naked in a swimming pool together in the middle of the night. That was terrifyingly new. 

“Er,” Liam said again, but this time he was fiddling with the button of his shirt and flicking it open under Louis’s watchful eyes. Harry wolf-whistled when Liam undid the second button. 

Liam could feel his cheeks flaming, even in the cool night air. Everyone was staring at him, he could feel the weight of their eyes even though he was staring determinedly at the ground as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt. 

“You don’t actually have to if you don’t want to,” Louis said, his voice unfamiliar in how comforting it sounded. Like he was soothing a frightened child. Liam thought briefly of the few things he knew about Louis—four little sisters he’d helped raise—and realized he probably had a lot of practice taking care of people. He ought to resent that Louis thought he needed to be taken care of, but it was really kind of nice. It meant Louis cared, maybe. 

Regardless, the comforting words and Louis’s voice and the warm smile on his face when Liam glanced up at him made it a lot easier to take the rest of his clothes off, unbuttoning the shirt quickly and slipping his jeans down. Closing his eyes and trying not to seem too outwardly nervous, Liam slid his boxers off. 

Right. That was done. Now he just had to get in the pool, knowing that at the very least Harry and Louis would try to grope him, and possibly Niall and Zayn as well. 

Taking a deep breath and opening his eyes briefly, Liam stepped up to the edge of the pool and jumped in. The water was colder than he’d anticipated, but not unbearable. Liam took a deep breath when he surfaced, shaking his head to keep water from getting in his eyes. 

Louis tackled him before he’d even looked around to see where everyone else was. Liam spluttered as he went back under the water, barely managing to close his mouth and remember to exhale before he was completely submerged. It wasn’t until Louis released him and they both surfaced to breath that Liam remembered they were both naked and god only knew what bits of him had touched Louis. What bits of Louis he’d touched when he was flailing wildly in surprise. 

In front of him, Harry was climbing up Louis’s back to sit on his shoulders, which Louis seemed completely nonchalant about. Liam stared, blankly unable to comprehend how Louis could be so blasé about how close Harry’s penis was to his face. 

It took him until Zayn touched him on the shoulder to realize he was shivering. There was a slight breeze that had barely been noticeable until Liam was standing half out of the water, and then it was raising goose pimples across his arms and chest. 

“Liam’s cold,” Zayn said.

“It’s fine,” Liam started to say, but he was cut off by Lous announcing they ought to go back inside. Harry scrambled out of the pool and came back a few moments later with towels that he dropped onto a dry corner of the ground, grabbing one to wrap around himself. 

Swallowing back his reluctance about getting out where everyone would be able to see him, no water safely obscuring his bits, Liam pulled himself up the side of the pool and picked up a towel. He wanted to wrap it around his arms and head, curl up in a ball away from the progressively chillier breeze, but that would mean not wrapping it around his waist for modesty. 

Well, fuck it.

Liam toweled his lower half off quickly and then huddled up with the towel over his head. Harry curled close to him, which normally would have made Liam flinch away—he probably ought to get used to Harry being naked, though—but his arm was warm to the touch and Liam leaned into it slightly. 

As soon as they were all more or less dried off, they all scurried back inside and Liam didn’t have it in him to object when Niall flopped mostly on top of him on the sofa because naked or not, Niall was warm and Liam wanted to be warm again. 

Next to him, Harry was entirely in Louis’s lap, curled up with his head resting on Louis’s shoulder. Zayn was between Louis and Liam, his face pressed into the other side of Louis’s neck and a hand resting on Niall’s ankle. 

“It’s your turn for truth or dare, Liam,” Louis said. His teeth chattered slightly. 

“Er,” Liam said. “Where’s the bottle?”

“S over there,” Zayn said. “M not getting up to get it.”

“Just pick someone who’s not gone for a bit,” Louis said. 

“Right.” Liam frowned. “Niall, truth or dare.”

Niall squirmed a bit in Liam’s lap, which Liam dutifully ignored. “Truth,” he said finally. 

“When was your first kiss?” Liam said. 

“Boring!” Louis sounded mostly teasing, which was better than mean. But he reached over and ruffled Liam’s wet hair, and it wasn’t so bad. 

“Fourteen, playing spin-the-bottle at a party,” Niall said, shrugging. He’s slumped farther against Liam now, seeming sleepy. It was cuter than Liam especially wanted to admit. “Zayn, truth or dare.” Niall’s words were just barely slurred together, his head tipping forward against his chest. 

“Dare,” Zayn said, sounding mostly casual. The atmosphere had changed from earlier, though. 

“I dare you,” Niall said, just a little off from nonchalant, “to kiss Louis.”

If Liam had thought the tension in the room had changed before, he had completely underestimated how much farther it could go. His eyes were glued to the way Zayn cocked his head at Louis, clearly asking permission, and then learned in until they were kissing softly. All Liam could think was that Harry’s being dared to get in the pool naked had ended with them all climbing on each other, naked and dripping, and that it didn’t seem so implausible that the kissing would go the same way. 

Zayn and Louis’s kiss didn’t really linger, just a press of lips barely too long to be chaste. When they pulled away, Louis was smiling a bit. Liam couldn’t see Zayn’s expression, but if he had to make a guess, he would have said that Zayn was smiling as well. 

“Right, Louis,” Zayn said, resting his forehead against Louis’s. “Truth or dare?”

“Dare, of course.” Louis grinned a bit manically as he spoke.

“Kiss Liam,” Zayn said, and Liam wasn’t sure if what he felt was his stomach dropping horribly or just wishing the sofa would swallow him up whole. 

Louis cocked his head, questioning, and Liam smiled thinly at him. He could agree to this, or he could not; Louis wouldn’t do it without his permission, that much was clear. And it was just a game, really. Even if Niall was still half on top of him and they were all naked save some blankets and towels strewn messily across them on the sofa, hardly hiding anything. It was a game. 

Liam nodded. 

Zayn slipped farther down until he was curled nearly on top of Niall’s legs, so that Louis could pitch forward—not far, they were all squeezed together thigh-to-thigh—and press his lips to Liam’s. 

The kiss was—delicate. Soft lips against Liam’s, not forceful or demanding, just touching lightly, moving and questioning. Liam leaned forward a minute amount, just enough to turn the kiss from something tentative and inquisitive into something with a bit of weight to it. Louis’s hand rested lightly against his arm, thumb moving just the slightest bit. It was so much nicer than Liam had expected; he’d thought Louis would be aggressive, all teeth and tongue and dramatic movements, but he was moving cautiously, like he was afraid Liam might spook and break away. 

Liam’s heart pounded at the thought, the consideration that Louis was putting into the way he opened his mouth so slowly against Liam’s, his tongue swiping across Liam’s lower lip. Liam squeezed his eyes shut and didn’t make any noise, but Louis must have sensed something, because he pulled away. 

When Liam met his eyes again, he was smiling, thinner than usual and maybe a little nervous. Liam smiled back; his lips felt a little swollen from kissing. 

“Is no one going to kiss me?” Harry asked, pouting. Louis tugged at his hair and Liam tried not to notice the way Harry’s whole face went slack. 

“Patience,” Louis said. “Niall, truth or dare.”

“Dare.” Niall looked more than a bit like the cat who’d got the cream as he said it. Clearly he wanted to kiss someone. 

“Kiss Harry,” Louis said. 

Niall licked his lips but Harry was lunging forward before he even managed to push himself up off Liam’s lap. It probably didn’t help that Zayn was still pinning him down, mostly asleep now. Harry sealed his mouth against Niall’s, in a kiss that looked like the complete opposite of the way Louis had kissed Liam—hard and fast and a bit exaggerated. Liam wished he weren’t watching so closely he could tell that Harry was using his tongue—and apparently to great effect, as Niall grabbed the back of Harry’s head and pulled him closer. It was impossible to tear his eyes away, though. 

He had no idea how they were all still on the sofa, how no one had fallen off, how Zayn wasn’t getting crushed, but his eyelids were heavy and Louis’s thumb still rubbing softly on his arm wasn’t helping. The repetitive motion was soothing, lulling him to sleep despite all the reasons he shouldn’t be able to—not least of which was the naked boys still kissing sloppily in his lap. 

Louis let go of Liam’s arm to lie down on the sofa, curling himself behind Zayn somehow, an arm around his waist. His eyes were closed. Harry and Niall’s kissing had slowed—Liam wasn’t even sure they were kissing anymore, maybe just resting their foreheads together and dozing like Zayn. 

It was insane, completely mad that he could go to sleep like this, with four other boys on a sofa that was entirely too small for them, but Liam was too tired and warm and safe to move. He’d have to wake everyone else—Harry’s head tipped forward to rest in the crook of Niall’s neck and he snored softly as Liam thought it—and that wasn’t an option. Tomorrow they ought to work on music, getting to know each other as a band as well as just, well. Sitting on each other naked. 

But that was for tomorrow; for now, Liam was going to slump over a bit to rest his head on Louis’s bare shoulder and go to sleep. 

(In the morning, instead of nagging them to practice singing harmonies, Liam let himself be cajoled into some sort of game that involved hitting people with pillows, something with a blanket, and no apparent rules. By the time they’d managed to extricate a still-naked Harry from the tangle of blanket for the final time, Liam was too exhausted from laughing to be useful at all, so he just curled up in a chair, drowsing while Niall picked at his guitar and watching Louis trying to sculpt Harry’s curls into some other shape. 

Well, maybe one more day of getting to know each other wouldn’t hurt.)


End file.
